Monday, March 24, 2008

The "greenest" foods are healthy foods. Whether you eat meat or are strictly vegetarian or vegan, these are the foods that are good for you and good for the planet.

The suggestions include:

Eat Like GrandmotherPeople always ask: How can I tell if a food is green? There’s a quick trick lots of folks are talking about today. Ask yourself, “Would my grandmother (or for some of us, great-grandmother) recognize this thing as actual food?"

Eat a 100% Local Meal Each WeekEating food grown or crafted for you within a 100 to a few hundred miles of your home reduces your food miles (the miles and energy it takes to ship it to your plate), which is very earth friendly. But by eating locally you’re also helping to support the kinds of family farms that grow the delicious, sustainable, compassionately raised foods you’re looking for when embracing a greener diet. It’s a healthy way to eat, and it helps support local economies as your food dollars stay in your community.

[If You Eat Meat,] Become a Compassionate CarnivoreWe think we'll make a good start by suggesting that people reduce the amount of meat they eat, and by asking them to think about ways to fight back against the inhumane treatment of animals raised on factory "farms." Instead, when you do indulge, select high-quality meats that are grass-fed, family-farm raised, as local as possible, hormone-free and raised with fewer meds. And eat less of it.

Eat Slow Food, Not Fast FoodSo many of us rely on cheap fast food, which is inevitably laden with preservatives, additives, fat, salt and high-fructose corn syrup. Food that tastes the same whether you’re in New York City, Berlin, or Tokyo. And we eat it at our desks and in our cars. Slow food advocates say the fast way of life chips away at a community’s cultural identity and food heritage. We no longer care about who is growing our food, how bland it is or how our food choices affect the rest of the world. Support the movement by planning one slow food meal for a friend or your family this week.

3 comments:

Good stuff...although I think many of our grandmothers may have gotten in on the first wave of the processed food coup. Mine, as well as many Lutheran church basement ladies, welcomed Jello salad as one of the four food groups, and used margarine after Dad started having heart troubles (from Crisco and white flour no doubt!)

I guess that's why they said "or for some of us, great-grandmother"... Yes, people who knew how hard their mothers worked to prepare all the family's food from scratch, day in and day out, may have been very happy to adopt the early wave of convenience foods. I can picture those cookbooks from the 50s and 60s, full of bright colors that don't always appear in nature!

I keep wondering if there is some way the federal Farm Bill could be used to help local, green farmers rather than the huge corporate commodity millionaire farmers that get most of the money now. I keep thinking about writing to my representatives, but the way things are today, don't see much point in that.